All too often movies seem to get made in order to demonstrate new high tech gizmos instead of telling a good story.

Once upon a time, Robert Zemeckis was one filmmaker who avoided this trap by finding or co-writing engaging tales that utilizes special effects to serve the rest of the film.

Sadly, the instincts that guided him through Who Framed Roger Rabbit fail him during The Polar Express. In adapting Chris Van Allsburg's (Jumanji) 1995 short picture book, Zemeckis and William Broyles, Jr. try to pad the story to reach a 90-minute running time. As they proceed, the two emphasize spectacle over narrative.

Admittedly, much of the spectacle is impressive. A lad who's starting to doubt the validity of all things Christmas wakes up the night before the holiday to discover a giant locomotive has stopped outside his parents' home.

The train is called the Polar Express, and it takes its passengers all the way to Santa's workshop on the North Pole. Along the way, he encounters a fussy conductor (who looks and sounds a bit like Tom Hanks), a mysterious hobo (who also sounds like Hanks), some other kids, a horde of elves and even Santa himself (who's voice sounds like the star of Forrest Gump).

The journey is far from smooth. One little girl's (Nona M. Gaye) ticket gets lost in the most convoluted way possible. Parts of the train break off in transit, and caribou can bring the Polar Express to a halt.

As can the script.

Zemeckis and Broyles really don't flesh out the characters very well, so it's a chore to develop much interest in the film except as a massive depository of computer generated eye candy. Some major characters lack names, much less personalities. Our protagonist is listed as "hero boy," and Gaye's is dubbed "Hero Girl."

The animation techniques in The Polar Express are similar to those used to turn Andy Serkis into Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. With motion detecting sensors placed all over his face and body, Hanks was able to portray several characters that animators would later flesh out. As a result, Hanks was even able to portray the "Hero Boy."

It's a nifty technical trick, but after a few minutes it gets tiresome hearing some variation of Hanks' voice coming out of different characters' mouths. Hanks is certainly capable, but some of the magic is lost when the voice sounds just a little too familiar.

The character designs are also problematic. The populace of The Polar Express look almost-but-not-quite human. They have an eerie Stepfordian appearance that makes them unengaging. The more stylized look that the Pixar and Dreamworks studios' characters have would have been preferable. If the surroundings aren't real, it helps if the characters aren't either.

The Polar Express almost redeems itself with eye-popping action scenes, but Alan Silvestri's score forgettable tunes sound like a naked attempt at a Best Original Song Oscar nomination.

Despite some technical pizzazz, this flick ends up leaving viewers as cold as the North Pole itself.